Teens wait up to two years to seek help for eating disorders
Launching a CD-ROM to teach teenagers the difference between physical and emotional hunger, Bodywhys chief executive Jennie O’Reilly said most eating disorders start between the ages of 14 and 17 years.
“It is vital that more targeted prevention work is done in Ireland and the most obvious place is within the school setting,” she said.
The CD, aimed at 14 to 16-year-olds, is broken into three main 40-minute modules - body image; self esteem and decoding media images - each addressing linkages between food and emotions. Funded by the Vodafone Foundation, it also includes a number of personal stories by people who developed an eating disorder.
One young teenager told how she developed bulimia when she became homesick during a three-week stay in the Gaeltacht. “I knew it was bad for me but I couldn’t stop. I had a horrible time,” she said.
Eventually, she told her parents and they got her the help she needed. “I feel a lot more confident now about me as a person rather that me as a figure,” she said.
Another young man told how he developed muscle dysmorphia, which is the opposite of anorexia nervosa. People with this disorder obsess about being too small and frail and undeveloped. He was 18 years old and weighed 12 stone when became fixated on working out and building up his body mass.
He realised he needed help when he weighed 19 stone, had stretch marks, damaged knee joints and high blood pressure.
“It completely took over my life. With muscle dysmorphia, everything revolved around getting bigger,” he said.
Bodywhys development officer Sinead Hardiman said they were also anxious that the learning module would focus on the media industry, its imagery and selling techniques and how that can impact on how young people feel about themselves and their bodies.
“With a simple tool, young people will be able to see how photographs are manipulated and touched up using airbrushing techniques,” she said.
Bodywhys is hoping to get more funding so that the CD-ROM can be distributed to health professionals and the wider public later in the year.
The Bodywhys helpline number is 1890 200444.
